Postmortem stylization of open-source games

Open-source games can benefit from stylization of their rendering engine, even after end-of-life. Without professional content artists, it is difficult to achieve the targeted realistic look to which many games aspire. Instead, the result of their attempts is often perceived as unnatural. In other words, if users see complex, realistic textures, they expect detailed geometry. If this is not delivered, the graphics system is blamed. A more consistent effect can be achieved by removing visual clutter, such as high-frequency textures or complex shading, so that only visually relevant information is emphasized. This can often result in a significant improvement for aging game engines; the simple, low-poly geometry benefits from stylized shading that roughly matches its level of abstraction (LOA). This improves both the game itself and its community by providing users a fresh experience and boosting development efforts.